(2013-02-16, 04:42)Scott R Wrote: Thanks. Just did a quick search on SwitchResX and see that it's a Mac utility. If I was to want to integrate that, does it involve kicking off a script or external player or does it all work automatically?
No external player needed. You do need to (within the SwitchResX app) redirect the 'standard' 24Hz res to the one you made that more closely matches your source material, but it's pretty easy to do. The only downside here (besides the precision issues I already mentioned) is that the app costs money.
(2013-02-16, 04:42)Scott R Wrote: That said, worst case, I'm not opposed to going the Bootcamp route and installing Windows 7, if it will provide a better experience. I'm not intending on using this Mac as a desktop PC for anything. It would be strictly as an HTPC, and possibly as a DVR server and Plex server.
I'd say do whatever works for you then. Just saying that MacOSX 10.8 isn't necessarily as broken it might seem by browsing the forums here. It works fine, but OSX has (and had, all along) some limiting factors, like what I mentioned about the precision of the refresh rate. I don't know if Windows has the same issues or not. Linux, I suspect, likely doesn't, unless there is also a hardware limitation in the Intel chipsets.
(2013-02-16, 04:42)Scott R Wrote: I started out saying that I wasn't sure if I should return the Mini. I got it as an open box at Best Buy and paid about $460. I don't know that it's really going to offer me anything that I don't already get with my current setup, but it's a beautiful piece of hardware and I thought the power savings might be nice. Right now I've got an HP i7-2600 tower in my bedroom acting as my WMC (server and client) and Plex Media Server. I like that the tower has a super-powered i7 which should make Plex's on-the-fly transcoding a breeze, but I honestly don't know that I'll have a need for on-the-fly transcoding very often, as most of my content will be watched either in the bedroom (where my tower is) or in my living room (on the projector) which currently has that Revo 1600 I mentioned (now running Windows 7). The living room also has an XBox 360 which I use as an extender for live TV / DVR.
To be honest, I think you bought something at a time that is maybe overkill for what you want. You don't really (anymore) need a full-blown PC to do this stuff. Have a look at the Android and Raspberry Pi stuff, for instance.
I've only still got a Mac mini in the living room for exactly two reasons:
1) I use it to serve the home automation stuff as I mentioned before, with Indigo, and
2) I play emulated games on it (using XBMC and Advanced Launcher as an interface for it).
#1 requires a specific OS, so I'm limited to what Apple offers for it. #2 requires some computational power, so I can't go Android/rbp (yet, or.. I guess, more correctly, easily).
As a new buyer though, you've got many options if neither of those things (or anything else requiring CPU cycles) are important to you.
(2013-02-16, 04:42)Scott R Wrote: So I have to decide whether I should put that $460 back in my pocket and return the Mini, or: a) Use the Mini as my new server, and either sell my i7 tower, or dedicate it to converting my Blu-ray rips to .mp4 files just to save some extra disk space and allow for them to be easily streamed to my daughter's ATV
If I didn't need the i7 for anything else, I'd do this if I were you. Not sure I'd use OSX for the job (likely Linux, personally, but that's what I'm used to).
As far as recompressing the BR discs, not sure what to tell you. Guess you still need something in the house with some oomph for that, or just be patient with whatever hardware you do have
